Ninjas' Playtime
by Aeraqua
Summary: How ninjas in Konoha's precious amusement park is always a bad idea. NaruHina, Team Gai's Love Triangle, GaaSaku, ShikaTem, ChoIno, KibaOC. CHAPTER 4 IS UP!  Originally named the Amusement Park
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!**

**Pairings: NaruHina, LeeTen or NejiTen (love triangle), ShikaTem, ChoIno, GaaSaku**

**Okay, guys, here's the POVs of the character's thoughts before thinking about going to the amusement park—basically, all of them are very lazy. The next chapter will feature all of them meeting up together, and deciding to go and the journey there. Be patient! Starting from the third chapter, I'll have 1-2 characters be the "main character" in that chapter in the amusement park. Happy reading! Don't forget to review! **

_Naruto_

"Gahh!" Naruto groaned as he slouched down in Tsunade's office, watching her snore contentedly, sake bottles littered around her. "I'm….so…bored! Is she really serious about having no other missions besides D-rank missions? His whiskered face scrunched up in suspicion. "Whatever…I'll go get some ramen at Ichiraku's…I guess she won't be waking up any time soon to assign me a better mission…there's no way I'm doing a D-rank mission, after all the dangerous things I went through!" With that, he stomped out of the Hokage's office.

_Sakura_

"I…can't…stand…the…heat…" Sakura groaned, sweating profusely in the hot Konoha sun. "There's…nothing…to…do…" For a moment, she wildly considered going shopping with Ino, but then remembered that it would look like she was desperate to be Ino's friend again. _And I don't want to have a mission, either. _She thought glumly. _I feel so lazy today! I just want something fun to do…_then she thought about Sasuke. "No!" She reprimanded herself. "Don't think about him!"

_Hinata_

Hinata sat cross-legged in the Hyuuga manor, trying to meditate while swatting mosquitoes away. It also didn't help that she was constantly thinking about Naruto, and that she couldn't talk to anyone. Her relatives were still all treating her with disdain, so Hinata didn't dare to do anything or talk to them. Kiba was off playing with Akamaru, and Hinata didn't even know where Shino lived. Kurenai-sensei was off on an A-rank mission, too. If only Naruto was here! She sighed. _Maybe, I can try to find Naruto and talk to him…_she blushed at the thought. She was too cowardly to do something like that!

_Kiba_

"Is it the fleas again, Akamaru?" Kiba asked, sighing. Akamaru whimpered. "Don't worry, I feel your pain," Kiba grunted, batting mosquitoes away. "Man…are you sure you don't want to learn any more jutsus?" Akamaru shook his head no quite firmly. "Aghh…it's so boring out here, maybe we'll go jump in the lake for fun…" But Kiba quickly dismissed the thought, because he felt too lethargic to even move. "Life sucks today…" Kiba groaned, and Akamaru barked an affirmative.

_Shino_

Sometimes, Shino regretted wearing a long trench coat all the time to protect his bugs. If he lived in the Village of Mist, maybe, the heat wouldn't be so bad. He languidly let the bugs skitter all over his body. It was very unusual for him to feel this lazy, he thought. He'd expect it of Kiba, maybe, but not an Aburame like himself. _For once, I wouldn't mind Kiba pouring ice water over my face, _he thought grimly. _At least that was somewhat fun. _Wait—fun? Had he thought of anything to do with Kiba as "fun"? "I must be losing my touch," he said out loud.

_Shikamaru_

Shikamaru stared at the clouds, feeling lazier than he had ever felt his entire life. And that was saying something. Heck, he was too lazy to even play Shogi. Asuma was off on an A-rank mission, Ino was probably running the flower shop, and Choji was probably pigging out somewhere. "Man…how troublesome," he muttered, shifting his position a bit. For once, he actually wanted some adventure. This was just _too _boring. He couldn't even stand looking at the clouds anymore. His trademark frown grew deeper as he tried to shadow bind one of the flies surrounding him, and failed.

_Ino_

"AGHHHHHHH!" Ino screamed in frustration. Her usually glossy hair was limp because of the heat, and the flowers were all wilting. So now she had to run around like a maniac watering all of them. "I need a vacation!" She shrieked, pulling her hair out, making all the passerby stare. "Mom!" She screamed. "You need to take over!" A loud voice erupted from inside. "INO! You promised that you'd work for at least 3 hours!" Ino threw a shruiken at the wall.

_Chouji_

For what was possibly the first time in his life, Chouji didn't feel hungry. Somehow, the heat wave in Konoha was even making barbeque seem unappealing to him. "This feels so wrong," Chouji muttered. "I don't want barbeque, I don't want chips…" He even considered what Asuma had said in desperation—"Get active, Chouji, when I'm gone!" He sighed. "There's no way I'm doing exercise on my own," he thought sadly.

_Rock Lee _

"118, 119, 120," Lee grunted as he did pushups. "121, 122, 123…if I cannot do at least 250 pushups without pausing, Sakura-san will call me fuzzy eyebrows!" His eyes felt watery at the very thought. Suddenly, at the 125th pushup, he collapsed. "It's too hot…" he moaned uncharacteristically. Then he gasped. "What would Gai-sensei do if he was here? He'd surely be very mad at me! I've failed you, sensei!" Lee started crying as he pictured his sensei's face. "Why do I feel so unmotivated today?" He wondered out loud, his green spandex suit clinging to him. "Maybe I should quit training…NO! NO! I cannot desert my springtime of youth so easily!"

_Ten-Ten_

Ten-Ten flipped gracefully in the air, letting three kunais fly at their targets. Two hit the dead center, but the third missed by a hair. Ten-Ten gasped. "I..missed?" She said in horror. "The heat's killing me," she muttered crossly. Even her buns were coming down. "I'd better find Lee…no doubt he's still trying to train in this heat because of the "springtime of youth". I can't believe I actually tried to be like him and Gai, training this hard…ugh, I need something FUN to do."

_Neji_

Neji wanted to punch Hiashi Hyuuga's face right off. His long hair was damp with sweat, and his Byakugan was hurting his eyes. Hiashi, however, stood there calmly, not even breaking sweat. "Come, Neji." He said sternly, impatience on his face. "We having been training together for six months. Surely you will not give up now." Neji forced himself to stay calm. He attempted to visualize a Ying-Yang circle beneath his feet, but failed. Sighing, he once again tried to hit Hiashi, but fell down ungracefully. "Wonderful," he commented sarcastically.

_Temari_

"YAHH!" Temari yelled as she swung her giant fan around, creating a huge wind that carried all the bugs surrounding her away, and cooled her down slightly. "Sent to Konoha NOW in the middle of a heat wave," she commented dryly to Kankuro, who appeared to be drooling slightly. She sighed. It looked like she'd have no companion to talk to today. Her team had been sent here to escort an important person who needed to talk to the Hokage. Apparently, the talk would take a few days, and so Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara would have to wait in Konoha's blistering heat for a few days until they could escort that person back. Temari snarled. The person hadn't even let their hood down for the whole journey, so she didn't even know who this "important person" was. "Temari…" Kankuro murmured. "Can you use your fan again?" Temari restrained herself barely by reminding herself that if she killed Kankuro, she would be wasting more energy in this blasted heat. But still, it was rather rude that her brother would only talk to her because he needed to use her_._

_Kankuro_

Kankuro felt sleepy, hot, and grouchy. Temari looked like she would kill him if he asked her again to use her fan. But really, heat and black baggy clothes and facepaint didn't go well together. He eyed a couple of kids as they ran by. He felt too tired to even terrorize them. What a day this was turning out to be. He fingered Karasu's bandages, wondering if he should just go on a mass rampage. He needed ice and excitement, dang it!

_Gaara_

Gaara sat in the middle of his siblings, ignoring Temari's rage and Kankuro's discontent. _Naruto_. He thought. That boy had defeated him and Shukaku and had made him realize…realize what was important in life. Really, the only reason he'd accepted this C-rank mission was because he wanted to see Naruto again and talk to him about other things he didn't understand quite well yet. Naruto had taught him about loyalty and love when he had defeated him, and now Gaara wanted to know more about this world Naruto had introduced him to. Gaara willed his sand to come to him, lifting him up so he could scout the village for Naruto. However, the moment his sand lifted him up, he willed it to drop him again. _Even my sand is burning hot, _Gaara sighed.

**So, that's one chapter for you guys. Remember, people, to review!**

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	2. Let's go!

**Yay! 5 reviews in one day! Which is actually a pretty high percentage because only 83 people clicked on this story. This chapter is dedicated to:**

Eru no Tsubasa, wisdom-jewel, KatonKageX, mizzgirlygirl0, Luiz4200

**But just as a reminder, in order to see this story progress, you need to alert this story (I've only gotten three alerts, but I have 5 reviews for some reason)—this also goes to Eru no Tsubasa, wisdom-jewel, and mizzgirlygirl0 who wanted me to keep going with this. One of my reviewers mentioned that the Sand Siblings seemed a bit OOC because of the way they were reacting to the heat—sorry, I should've said it was humid as well as very hot, and that's why Ino's hair went "limp". As for Gaara, sand is just naturally hot and he's sweating a lot too, so it just felt too hot for him. Another reviewer asked when the park would appear—like I said, Chapter 3.**

**And also: I'm going away for a week on vacation, so I probably won't be able to update for a week, so enjoy this early chapter! Review!**

Hinata Hyuuga decided to do the most rebellious thing she had ever done: sneak out of the Hyuuga compound while she was supposed to be meditating and find Naruto. In a rare show of impatience, she had given up meditating due to the heat and flies surrounding her. Repeating a prayer to herself, she slipped past where Neji and her father were sparring (Neji seemed quite angry) and quickly found herself on a main street of Konoha's.

Naruto Uzumaki felt extremely, extremely, grumpy. Why on Earth had he chose that baa-chan for Hokage? "I'd be a better Hokage than her," he grumped. "I'd have things to do for shinobi on days like these!" He turned down the main street, and—CRASH!

He peered down. On the ground, was a beet-red, mortified looking Hinata.

"Oh, Hinata!" He exclaimed. "I'm sorry!"

She looked to be too terrified to say anything.

"Say, aren't you bored?" He said, completely oblivious to her tumultuous feelings. "I wasn't looking where I was going because that old baa-chan of a Hokage fell asleep again and won't assign me any good missions!"

"N-Naruto-kun.." Hinata stammered out.

"Eh? What?" He peered down at her with an oblivious foxy expression on his face.

"I-If you're bored, t-there's an amusement park not far f-from here," she stammered, her eyes cast downward.

"Eh? Really? I've never heard about it!"

_No, you wouldn't have. _Hinata thought sadly. _No villager would ever be kind enough to tell you. _"Yeah, e-every country has one, and the Land of Fire's is s-supposed to be the best," she said.

"But…haven't you gone there before?"

She looked down, embarrassed. "My father has never let me go," she confided. "But I think most of our fellow genin in Konoha have went there before. I-It's always half-price for Konoha shinobi, because we protect the Land of Fire."

"Oh…that sounds fun!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hey, let's go there!"

Hinata's heart leapt. Could she…possibly have Naruto all to herself in an amusement park…? Like…a date?

"I'm going to invite Sakura-chan along too!" Naruto chattered along, completely crushing Hinata. "I guess you can invite Kiba and Shino…"

Hinata tried not to look too downcast. Instead, she changed the subject. "A-ano, Naruto-kun…"

"Yeah? Ooh, I hope they sell ramen there! Ramen…" a dreamy look came over his face.

"I don't know the way there."

"Oh, that's all right, we'll just ask Tsunade-baachan!"

Hinata almost laughed. Naruto, as usual, had no respect. Baa-chan?

"Oh! Sakura-chan!" A limp and tired-looking Sakura Haruno poked her head out of her house as she heard Naruto.

"What, Naruto?"

_Please, let her not come, _Hinata prayed silently—then she felt ashamed.

"Hinata and I are going to the amusement park today—"

"It's too late today, Naruto!"

"No it's not, it's only 9:40 in the morning! But anyways, I'm inviting you to come and Hinata's inviting Kiba and Shino. Right, Hinata?"

"H-hai…" she said quietly.

Sakura sighed. She didn't really want to stay with Naruto, but if some other people were coming along, it'd be bearable. And besides…the amusement park really sounded very appealing at the moment. There _were _water rides, after all. "Okay, I'll go!" She announced. "Hold on a sec, I need to get ready—oh, Hinata, I'll lend you a swimsuit, there are water rides there."

"I don't own a swimsuit," Naruto said, crestfallen. "Do you have any swimsuits for me?"

"NO!" Sakura's extremely enraged face poked out of the window. "Go get one from Kiba or Shino!"

_I don't want to borrow from Kiba_, Naruto thought glumly. _Shino, either. Knowing him, he'd probably put bugs in it…_

Hinata, too, looked very sad for some reason Naruto couldn't understand. The two were snapped out of their reveries when Sakura jumped out of the window. "Naruto, do you and Hinata have money?"

Naruto took out his frog-shaped wallet. Hinata, however, shook her head, ashamed.

"Well, you can borrow from me, then, because the admission is 872 yen for us Konoha shinobi. And also, you would want some other money for food and other things in there…"

She trailed off as Hinata started to stammer, "No, if it's too much trouble, S-Sakura…"

"No! It isn't too much trouble," Sakura said warmly. She leaned closer to Hinata. "You want to be with Naruto, right, Hinata?"

Hinata blushed fiercely.

"Eh? What happened?" Naruto said cluelessly.

"I'm just going to go invite Ino, okay? I think she might want to come. Meet me at 10:30 at Ichiraku's!"

"Okay…" Naruto said. "Come on, Hinata, let's go talk to the baa-chan."

_**Switch point of view to the Sand Siblings…**_

"AGH!" Temari screeched. "I can't stand just sitting here any longer!"

Kankuro jumped. "T-Temari…?"

"Do you really mean to say we're supposed to just do nothing for a few days? Forget it! I'm going to the Hokage's office to ask about anything we can DO here."

Gaara, surprisingly, grunted in agreement.

Kankuro moaned. "But…it's too hot to move!"

Temari held up her fan with a dangerous glint in her eye. Kankuro quickly moved.

And so the Sand Siblings marched. Kankuro moaned the whole time, saying that there wasn't anything interesting going on in Konoha and how come there wasn't even one puppeteer in the streets? Gaara thought that the trip would be worth it if he could meet Naruto and Lee. He wanted to apologize to Lee. Temari fumed. Her brothers never came up with good ideas. Honestly. Men.

They knocked on the Hokage's office. "Come in!" The sleepy voice of Tsunade said.

They pushed the door open, and…

"Hey! Gaara, Temari, and…what's your name again?" Naruto exclaimed, lastly looking at Kankuro.

"Kankuro." Kankuro growled.

"Oh, Kankuro. I didn't know you were all here!"

"Yeah, well, we're here for Konoha's heat wave," Temari said sarcastically. "We're just asking Tsunade-sama here if there's anything interesting we can do."

"Interesting…" Naruto mused. "You want to join us? We're going to the amusement park!"

"Land of Fire's amusement park…" Temari said. "Hey, why didn't I think of that? It's perfect!"

Kankuro groaned. "You're saying we have to go to some kiddy-?"

"It's supposed to be the best of all the nations." Gaara intoned. "Let's go."

Kankuro sighed in defeat.

"Anyways, I just asked the Hokage here on directions, and she says it's only about an hour of tree-leaping." Naruto explained.

"Sounds good. I'm in." Temari declared. Then she turned to Tsunade. "Hokage-sama, will we have to pay the full fee?"

"I'll pay half of it for you," the Hokage said warmly. "To thank you for rescuing our Genin team from the Sound Four."

"Arigatou." Temari said respectfully.

"Alright, alright, let's go, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. "We're going to meet Sakura at Ichiraku's!"

He fidgeted impatiently as Tsunade handed each of the siblings half of the price (872 yen).

"Who's Sakura?" Gaara asked.

"She was with us in the Chuunin exams…you know, pink hair? She's inviting some more people to come."

"I see." Then Gaara beckoned to Naruto. "I want to talk to you in private."

Naruto, puzzled, stepped out of the room with Gaara.

"I want to thank you," Gaara said solemnly. "You rescued me from that deep pit of darkness."

"Oh…it was nothing," Naruto said happily, scratching his head.

Gaara nodded. "Perhaps…you can explain more about the nicer emotions in the future?"

Naruto smiled. Gaara was turning to him for help! "Sure I will!"

The Sand Siblings and Hinata came out. "Ready to go?" Temari asked.

"Yep!" Naruto said happily, while Hinata said "Yes" in a very quiet voice.

And so they went.

_**Switch to Sakura POV (this is right after Naruto and Sakura go to invite their respective people)**_

Sakura Haruno wasn't sure why she was inviting Ino. She was beginning to regret it now, staring up at "Yamanako's Flowers". Sakura guessed she was guilty that she had pushed her only friend from her childhood away…

She knocked on the door. Ino's very harried looking face peeked out. "What is it, Forehead Girl? I don't have time to worry about you!"

Sakura was about to reply with a scathing remark, when she noticed Ino looked to be on the verge of tears. "Do you want to go to the amusement park with me, Hinata, and Naruto? Other people might come as well."

Ino looked shocked. "You're inviting me?"

"Yes, Ino," Sakura sighed.

"Yes! Then I'm so coming! I'm going to wow the guys there!"

"Um…" Sakura said.

"MOM!" Ino shrieked up the stairs.

"YES?"

"CAN I GO TO THE AMUSEMENT PARK WITH SAKURA?"

There was silence. Then—"WHEN YOU COME BACK, YOU STILL HAVE TWO HOURS, UNDERSTAND?"

Ino looked stricken. "Dang! I wasn't able to get out of it. But I'll still go with you, Sakura."

Sakura smiled. "Okay, let's go then, Ino Pig!"

"Don't call me that, Forehead Girl!" Then Ino suddenly gasped. "I have to invite Shikamaru and Chouji!"

Sakura groaned. "Hai, hai."

They walked along the road to Chouji's house, until they saw Kiba and Akamaru looking surprisingly listless on Kiba's porch. "Oh, Kiba!" Sakura stopped. "Hinata wants to invite you and Shino to come to the amusement park with us."

Kiba blinked. "Amusement…park? Is anyone else coming?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, Naruto."

Kiba grinned. "I'll get him back for beating me in the Chuunin exams…okay, I'll come!" Sakura gulped at the feral look on his face.

Next, they made it to Chouji's house. Chouji opened the door, and Ino's jaw fell to the ground when she saw he wasn't eating anything. "Chouji!" Ino said. "Where are your chips?"

"I'm not hungry." Chouji muttered, looking depressed.

_I can't believe I'm going to tell him this, but Chouji not eating is seriously wrong, _Ino thought_. _ "Chouji, why don't you come to the amusement park with us? I'm sure you'll feel hungry once you've had some excitement." She almost gagged on the words. Who would want to feel hungry? Luckily, those seemed to be the words Chouji needed.

"I'm definitely coming!" Chouji roared, with fire in his eyes. "My passion for barbeque must be reawakened!"

With that, he ran out the door past them. "Well, I guess that's taken care of," Sakura said, eyebrow twitching.

Soon they came to Shino's house—after many threats from Kiba, he finally gave in, and came along.

The group plodded along to Shikamaru's house, and Ino rung the doorbell. A very fierce-looking woman peered out. Her eyes widened. "Shikamaru has a visitor?" She said, chuckling. Then—"SHIKAMARU! GET YOUR LAZY SELF DOWN THIS INSTANT!"

Shikamaru soon appeared, taking his time leisurely to come down the stairs. "What? Sakura, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, and Shino are all here? How troublesome."

Ino whacked him on the head. "We're inviting you to come with us to the amusement park! Geez!"

"Sorry, I'm not coming. It's too troublesome."

Ino became enraged. "Too troublesome?" She yelled. "Would you go if Sakura and I weren't going?"

"Well…yeah. But it doesn't matter whether Sakura goes or not. Ahh…just kidding!" He hastily added as he saw he was about to get his head bashed in.

"Well, here's the adventure I wanted, I guess…" he muttered to himself as he followed the group out.

_**Switch to Naruto POV**_

"Ra…men…." Naruto drooled. They were standing at Ichiraku's, waiting for Sakura to appear. Temari twirled her fan impatiently. Kankuro had slumped down, sleeping again. Gaara stood with his back to the stand, with a stoic face. Hinata simply smiled from time to time.

Finally, at 10:45, Sakura appeared—with what seemed like everyone Naruto knew. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelped. "You even invited Shikamaru?"

"It was Ino," Sakura answered.

"Shikamaru?" Temari's head suddenly snapped up.

Shikamaru flinched when he saw her. "What? I didn't know she was coming along too!" He complained. "How troublesome!"

Temari chuckled. "Seems like it'll be more fun than I thought it was going to be," she said happily.

Just then, a commotion erupted farther down the street. "OWCH, Ten-Ten!" Came the voice of Lee. "Let go, please! I need to run my 500 laps around Konoha!" Ten-Ten suddenly came into view, dragging a poor Lee by the ear. "He's going to kill himself," Ten-Ten called when she saw Naruto's group. "I'm saving him right now."

Neji followed her, an amused expression on his face. Hinata gasped. Wasn't he training with Hiashi? He saw the expression on her face. "I decided to take a break, Hinata-sama," he said.

"Whoa, it's you!" Ten-Ten saw Temari. "Why is the Sand here?"

"Mission." Temari said, amused.

Naruto grinned suddenly. "Hey, Bushy-brows, Ten-Ten, Neji! We're all going to the Land of Fire's amusement park—you wanna come?"

Neji sniffed. "And what would be the use of that?"

Lee chimed in. "Yeah! I still need to run my laps!"

But Ten-Ten grabbed both boys by their collars—er, Lee by his suit. "We're coming!" She said happily. "Luckily I'm wearing waterproof clothing; I'm definitely going on the water rides!"

Neji sighed in defeat. Lee, however, still tried to object. "Shut up, Lee," Ten-Ten said, shoving him toward Sakura.

"Well…I guess it's all settled then," Naruto said happily. "Off we go!"

All of them quickly ran out of Konoha, and started leaping from tree to tree.

Temari immediately grabbed Shikamaru's sleeve. "We're going to have a little debate," she pronounced, dragging him to the back.

Ten-Ten grabbed Lee and Neji, forcing them to keep up with her.

Ino dragged Chouji to the front, saying that they should give Temari and Shikamaru some privacy.

Naruto tried to put an arm around Sakura, but she punched him and he tree-leapt with Hinata instead.

Gaara didn't even leap—the sand took him and he glided close to Naruto and Sakura.

Kankuro muttered something about "Stupid kids" and leapt next to Shino in the back.

Kiba and Akamaru bounded joyfully along, planning how to tie Naruto to a tree by his underwear…

All in all, the group making its way to the amusement park was a rather…odd…one.

**Wow, this was a long early chapter for you guys! Remember, of course, to review! Makes my day!**

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	3. We're here!

**Yay! I'm back from vacation, and ready to update this. Thank you for reviewing the last filler chapter and this one will be the last of the "transition chapters"! Pairings, of course, will be more firmly established. Once again, read and review!**

**Thanks to my reviewers: **Hekem, Twisted Musalih, wisdom-jewel, KantonKageX, and mizzgirlygirl0!

**The Forming of Couples**

"We're going to the amusement park, we're going to the amusement park!" Naruto chanted gleefully, carrying his very obese frog wallet. Hinata blushed next to him, smiling shyly through her lashes. Naruto-kun was just so cute…

They were nearly at the front of the pack, mainly because Naruto was so enthusiastic. Hinata couldn't blame him though; she was almost just as enthusiastic herself. _Naruto-kun was coming! _

Naruto abruptly stopped. "Eh?" He said, looking downwards. _Oh…my…Kami! _Naruto inwardly gasped. This had to be an illusion. But, it was still steaming, and he hadn't sensed any strange chakra signatures of enemies, so it probably was real! "Yes!" He cried, diving down. Hinata suddenly realized what was going on. "N-Naruto-kun, it's a trap!" She yelped.

Naruto, however, had blocked out all sound as glee took over him, and didn't hear Hinata's soft words. Why? Because there was a steaming hot bowl of ramen on the ground of the forest floor, and he was determined to get it no matter what, regardless of danger!

"Ra…men…" he drooled. The ramen seemed to be surrounded by sort of glowing light, and all Naruto could comprehend was the steaming hot bowl and himself leaping towards it. Until—

"HAHAHA! He's so stupid, Akamaru!"

Naruto, red faced and furious, looked down at Kiba Inuzaka literally rolling on the ground, laughing so hard tears were coming out of the his eyes. "Let me go, Kiba!" Naruto yelled, both of his legs caught in nooses so that he was effectively hanging upside down from a branch and swinging slowly.

The bowl of ramen suddenly poofed and Akamaru came trotting out of the smoke. "Kuso!" Naruto wailed, dismayed at falling for such a trick.

"Man, can you believe he beat us in the Chuunin Exams, Akamaru?" Kiba said scornfully. Akamaru vigorously shook his head no.

"URUSAI, BOTH OF YOU!" Naruto growled.

"Ooh, getting touchy, are we?" Kiba taunted. "Well, I wasn't going to do this to you at first, but now I guess I have to…" he heaved a melodramatic sigh. Then, he snapped his fingers.

"Eh?" Naruto said, looking confused. The confusion quickly turned to outrage however, as razor wires controlled by Kiba hooked in his pants and dragged them off. "HEY!" He screamed. "GIVE THAT BACK!"

Hinata uttered a sound which only could've been described as "Meep!" before hiding behind a tree. Different interpretations could be of a squeak of horror, or a rather fangirlish squeal.

"EWW!" Sakura and Ino, both of whom had stopped, yelled in synchronization, pointing at Naruto, who was only wearing his jacket and boxers. "I think…I'm scarred for life." Ino whispered. Sakura nodded, agreeing with her rival for once.

Tenten landed gracefully after Sakura and Ino, stopping after seeing Naruto. Temari, dragging Shikamaru, landed beside her. The two rivals only looked away from the nearly naked boy in disgust. "Idiots…" they said, before turning toward each other and smirking in that "We're so better than those young un's" type of way.

Kiba, however, wasn't finished. Using more wires, he snagged Naruto's jacket and tore that off as well. "HEY!" Naruto squeaked, now starting to look embarrassed.

Hinata peeped out from behind the tree and fainted dead away. "Oi..." Ino said, before going to shake her to wake up.

"Naruto-kun, you look so foolish." Lee said sadly. His bushy brows were furrowed in concern, and his spandex suit seemed to be drooping. Beside him, though, Neji's lips were twitching. "Baka," the Hyuuga said in his emotionless voice. Both boys sighed at Naruto's stupidity.

"Hey…this is so troublesome, stopping to watch Naruto…" Shikamaru's lazy voice came from behind them, standing next to Temari. Chouji, however, who had withdrawn from Ino's side, looked greatly disappointed. "The ramen's….gone…." he muttered. "But…Akamaru sure looks tasty!" He said, perking up. Shikamaru sighed. "Chouji, did you even see Naruto?"

Shino, brow furrowing (didn't anyone care about Naruto?) didn't say a word, only sent out a few bugs to make sure that Naruto wasn't about to faint from dangling upside down. He was one of the only people who didn't look slightly amused. Beside him, Kankuro was looking very, very, put out. "Geez…this is why I HATE KIDS!" Kankuro said, his voice rising. "Puppets are so much better because they don't cause this type of fuss!" He snorted. "See, Gaara? This is why this type of thing never works out!" He explained to the redhead next to him. There was a silence. "Um, Gaara?" Kankuro turned apprehensively to Gaara, only to crash to the ground as he saw Gaara _checking Naruto out. _

Gaara's eyes were roving over Naruto's body shamelessly. "His body is better than mine…!"

Kankuro almost had a nosebleed. Since when did his little brother become so corrupted?

"Those abs…" Gaara was muttering maniacally. "We're about the same height, I must improve my physical state so I can beat him next time...yes, those abs are definitely more developed than mine…"

_Thank Kami_, Kankuro thought in relief. _He's not gay after all_! Kankuro picked himself off the branch.

By this time, after almost a minute of dangling upside down, finally Naruto managed to cut himself free. Laughing, Kiba tossed his clothes at him, and Naruto glowered. "I'll get you back, Inuzaka!" He said loudly.

Kiba looked amused. "Put your clothes on first, okay? I think I had enough of this disgusting sight."

Naruto flushed as he pulled his pants and jacket on. Behind the tree, Hinata almost let out a whine.

"WHOA!" Naruto Uzumaki yelled, nearly falling off his branch. "THAT LOOKS AMAZING!" Behind him, Kankuro snorted, trying to appear nonchalant, but failing completely.

In fact, everyone was agreeing with Naruto at the moment. The first look at The Land of Fire's Amusement Park was….absolutely stunning. A huge Ferris Wheel dominated the view, bright colors flashing sporadically on it. Each one of the cars was painted a different color. Behind it were many terrifying roller coasters, snaking through the sky and having loops and downward drops making even Shino uneasy. They could also see a huge water ride off to the distance. And…the booths! There were so many booths to win prizes at, each one of them distinctive and bright tents. And Kami, what was that huge expanse of water off in the distance? And there was—

"Sand…" Gaara whispered. "There's sand around it."

"Looks like it'll be worth the trouble," Shikamaru drawled, and everyone knew that even the lazy ass was impressed.

"Well, what's everyone waiting for?" Naruto suddenly yelled, making Hinata nearly fall off the branch. "Let's go, dattebayo!"

Rolling her eyes, Temari set off first, nearly dislocating Shikamaru's shoulder. "Ow!" He cried. "Troublesome woman…"

"Hello there!" The young woman at the ticket office smiled charmingly at them. "Do you have a discount?"

"Yes!" Sakura shouldered her way to the front. "Here's my Konoha headband, so I should get half price off for being a kunoichi."

"Of course!" The woman smiled at her. "And the rest?" Everyone except the Sand Siblings and Naruto pulled theirs out.

"I forgot mine!" Naruto said tearfully to the ticket woman.

"Baka!" Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "Now you have to pay full price!"

"Aww…" he sniffed.

"That's okay!" The woman suddenly fluttered her lashes at him. "You can get half price, I know you're shinobi! And your friends can, too!" She gestured at Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara.

"Yes! Thanks, kid." Temari whispered to Naruto. "Now we don't have to pay anything!"

Naruto grinned at the woman. "Arigatou!"

"No problem, for a cutie like you…" She blew him a kiss. Hinata suddenly felt the urge to Gentle Fist the worker.

Naruto blushed, scratching the back of his head. Sakura rolled her eyes again.

Everyone was now inside the park. Everyone was happy, even Naruto, who had just gotten his head smashed in by Sakura ("BAKA! You don't go in every store you see; the ones in the beginning just rip you off!").

"This is youth in its finest!" Rock Lee said tearfully, after examining a plush toy. "Sakura-san, will you accompany me?"

Sakura flinched, trying to keep her smile. "Uh…maybe later, Lee-san!"

Shikamaru suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked. He didn't answer, and Ino followed his gaze to a sign advertising what looked to be a massage chair.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing? You can buy that later!"

"No…" he murmured. "All I have to do is to be the fastest one to ring the bell at the center of the maze…"

"What maze?" Naruto said cluelessly.

"Baka." Temari snorted. "Over here." Behind her was a huge, inflated maze. Everyone's jaw dropped.

Shikamaru made his way over, as if in a trance. All anyone could hear was "Easier…watching clouds…stress reliever…no more troublesome women…"

Temari smacked him for the last phrase, as did Ino. "You're doing it?" Temari asked.

Shikamaru stared at her. "Yeah…"

"Well then, I'm competing against you!" Temari said cheerfully.

Shikamaru seemed to snap back to himself. "Damn….so troublesome. You're doing it just to spite me." Sighing, he ambled over to the ticketing counter to pay for entering the "maze contest".

Temari smirked. "He's like an old man…" she said to the general public. "It's up to me to make him young again." And with that, she sauntered after the ponytailed boy.

"O-kay, then…" Chouji said, after the two seemed to have no intention of coming back. "I'm hungry. Can we get some food?"

Ino seemed to be quivering in rage. "AUGH!" She suddenly screamed, making Lee flinch away. "My…teammates….!"

Everyone sighed, and Chouji sweat-dropped.

After about two steps, Chouji spied an onigiri stand. "I'm eating there!" He announced. Everyone else shared exasperated looks. "Look…" Sakura finally said. "I'm not eating." Everyone else nodded their affirmative.

"I guess…I'll eat alone, then." Chouji said sadly. Everyone looked guilty, but no one seemed to want to stay with him. Lee, being the noblest, was about to volunteer to stay, but everyone was shocked when Ino came up. "Okay, I'll stay with you…" she sighed.

"Ino pig…" Sakura said.

"Hey, it's no big deal!" Ino smiled. "I'll be here to make sure Chouji doesn't get lost."

"Okay, then," Sakura said, and they left Ino and Chouji alone.

"Ino…" Chouji said, visible tears in his eyes.

"Shut up." Ino told him once everyone was gone. "Just eat."

"Well….that was unexpected." Sakura said, after they passed out of earshot.

"It was very youthful of Ino," Lee agreed.

"No, I mean Ino usually wouldn't be so kind…I think she may like Chouji."

Naruto choked. "Are you serious?" He laughed.

"Idiot!" Sakura glared. "This is very important! It means Ino's moving on from looks!"

Naruto simply snickered more.

"Oh, why do I even bother talking to you?" She groaned.

At that second, Gaara joined the conversation. "What are those?" He pointed at the tracks in the sky, completely diverting the conversation.

"What? You don't know what they are?" Sakura looked baffled as he pointed at them. "They're well…roller coasters!"

"Roller…coasters?" Gaara said, repeating the unfamiliar word.

"Wow…" Sakura said, noting how deprived Gaara's childhood must've been if he didn't know these types of things. "Come on, I'll show you what everything is! I've been here before, so I know most of what goes on here…you need someone so you can enjoy the park!"

Kankuro snickered. "He'll never accept that," he muttered under his breath.

There was a silence in which Kankuro worried about the pink-haired girl's safety. He didn't want Shukaku rising again. "…Okay." Gaara said, letting Sakura lead him away.

And that was why Kankuro collapsed for the second time that day.

"Everyone just keeps disappearing…" Naruto said, looking disappointed after Sakura. Tenten snapped him out of his reverie, though. "NEJI! LEE! LOOK!" She squealed. "RING TOSS!"

"Today's a very bad day for those booths," Neji said, amused, as she dragged him and Lee away. "Tenten will take every plushie they have with her superior aim. It is definitely fa—"

"What did I tell you about using that word?" Naruto peered at him.

"Usuratonkachi." Neji muttered as he was dragged away, adopting the Uchiha's favorite word.

Naruto shot him a dirty look, which was quickly noticed by Hinata. "A-Ano, Naruto-kun…" she whispered.

"Huh?"

She blushed, twiddling her fingers together. "W-w-w-w-w…."

"Huh?" He leaned closer. If possible, that made Hinata even more nervous.

"W-would you like to go on a few rides with me?" Her face now resembled a tomato's.

"Oh. Sure!" He said happily. "Everyone's gone, anyways…" he grabbed her arm and led her away. Hinata, if possible, turned a even deeper shade of red. She'd go purple if she went any further, Kiba noted, disgruntled.

"OI!" Kiba shouted. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, EVERYONE'S GONE?"

Naruto didn't look back. Kiba fumed. "Damn him…Hinata's gone…"

Shino adjusted his glasses pointedly.

"Whatever…I'm not sticking around with you gaki." Kankuro said, disgruntled. "Temari's gone with that son-of-a-shadow…"

"Hmph. I'll see if I can get any useful puppets." And in a flash, he was off. And to his and Kiba's absolute amazement, _Shino _took after him.

"What the hell do you want?" He snarled.

"You are an interesting person." Shino said calmly. "We are equal in fighting, so perhaps we could each other tips for fighting style."

Kankuro pondered over this. Bug Boy had practically defeated him, so Kankuro could reinforce his puppets if he gleaned some knowledge…

"Alright. You're on." And both Shino and Kankuro disappeared.

Kiba stood there, gaping, Akamaru looking sad. "Why the hell are we alone?" He asked the dog. "Damn, and I dressed up for Hinata too…"

Akamaru barked.

"Eh? We're not alone?"

Kiba slowly turned around. There, her side to him was no doubt the hottest girl he had ever seen. And next to her was…a dog.

"Alright, Akamaru!" He whispered excitedly to his dog. "We're so on!"

**Liked it? Hated it? Please do review! Lots of time was spent making this chapter, and I want to know if you liked the humor, or if you want me to play it down, or if you want more romance…etc. Once again, thanks so much!**

**The Link is Right Below**


	4. Maze: Shikamaru and Temari

**Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Naruto, not even a poor cosplay costume. *sniff***

_**Thanks again to my faithful reviewers, wisdom-jewel, Luiz4200, and KantonKageX. Also, thank you my new reviewers, lilmissperfect14 and jenaca!**_

_**Warning: Mild language in this chapter.**_

**Chapter 4: Maze (ShikaTema)**

"You're such a troublesome woman." Shikamaru grumbled to Temari as he handed over 20 yen to the ticket lady to participate in the maze contest.

Temari simply smirked at him. "Afraid I'll beat you, Nara?" She teased, handing over 20 yen as well. "Don't want to be bested by a woman?"

Shikamaru scowled. "There you go, jumping to conclusions."

"You don't deny it, though." Temari grinned.

Shikamaru bristled. "I just wanted to get away from Naruto. He'll make me do troublesome things like going on those roller coasters." He snorted. "Whatever. I'm going to take a nap." And slouching, he walked away.

Temari smirked. What a fool. She could see right through his act. He wanted that massage chair badly, didn't he? It was unusual for him to lose his cool.

Shikamaru, though, had a plan.

Temari followed him as he walked around the huge maze. _I wish I knew what he was thinking, _she thought, frustrated. _I don't know whether he really wants to take a nap or if he has some strategy in mind. _But outwardly, she exuded confidence. Smirking, she yawned leisurely. _Nothing could possibly go wrong with my plan. _

Finally, Shikamaru seemed to be satisfied with walking and slouched down, preparing to snooze on a bench. To his dismay, Temari sat down right next to him, still keeping that confident smile on her face. Man, he just had to be landed with the worst of the women, didn't he? He decided to ignore her, until…

"HEY! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Temari's outraged voice literally cut into him.

Wincing, he sat upright, and his eyes opened wide.

The hugest guy he had ever seen had sat down next to Temari, and was stroking her hand with his. "Come on, babe, ditch ponytail over there and come with me…" he crooned, apparently thinking he had Temari wrapped around his finger. "I'll make sure you have the experience of your life here…" he leered.

Shikamaru glanced around. No one was around to see them. They were in the contest area, after all. Somehow, this fact gave him vindictive pleasure as he could beat up the guy…and tie him up and throw him unconscious into a nearby waste bin. _Idiot! _he thought to himself. _Why the hell are you thinking about beating him up? Think up a strategy…quick._

Temari, however, looked bored. "Don't take me as one of your whores."

The man smirked, apparently unimpressed. "Sorry, honey, but you have no choice…"

Temari's lips quirked up. Standing up, she wrenched her hand out of the man's grasp, and took something out of her pocket.

Shikamaru blinked. It seemed to be a mini version of her fan.

"Kakudai suru!*" She said, smiling like a shark. The man blinked. The fan grew into Temari's normal fan. Shikamaru gulped. She'd brought her weapon along with her… "Now…" she purred, advancing on the man, who didn't seem to realize the danger he was in. "Sorry, honey, but you can't defeat me with a fan…" he said confidently. "You can't be more than a Genin…"

Temari smirked. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!**" She yelled, and a huge blast of wind knocked the man off his feet. Several blades of wind seemed to cut him, revealing long gashes on his chest. "Why you…" he growled, all pretenses gone. "And I had hoped to do this without a fight too…Doton: Retsudo Tenshō!***"

Temari let out a yelp as the ground trembled and cracked, leaving her to fall and slip, or possibly be crushed by the rocks that were emerging.

"Shit!" Shikamaru said. He didn't expect to encounter another shinobi here… Quickly, he pulled Temari out and leaped backwards.

"Well, well, looks like we have a little masochist here…" the man said. "I'll deal with you first."

"Don't underestimate me!" Temari growled. "Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai!"****

Shikamaru watched in grudging admiration as her sickle weasel appeared and with a huge blade of wind, left deep gashes all over the man's body. "What a fool." Temari spat, kicking the man's unconscious body.

Shikamaru decided _never, ever, _to irk her. She was willing to unleash her weasel regardless of whether she was in an amusement park or not.

"Baka." Temari snorted. Then her eyes opened wide. "Hey, wait a sec…this is a missing-nin!"

"What?" Shikamaru quickly leapt forward. He cursed himself for not noticing before. It _was _a missing-nin, a C-rank.

"Don't worry, we can just hand him over the amusement park officials." Temari said casually.

"But—"

"Kami, Shikamaru, when did you grow to be such a worrywart? They'll take him back to Konoha for interrogation. We're not the only ninjas around." And without waiting for him, she hefted the man up, grunting. Shikamaru's eyeballs popped out. He _really _had to be careful. If she could lift up a 300+ pound guy, he didn't want to know what she could do to him. And the fact that she had nearly killed the man ruthlessly without trying to find out his real motive… 

_Once a woman feels harassed, there's no limit to what she can do, _Shikamaru mused as he followed Temari.

Temari dumped the man at the ticket lady's feet moments later. The ticket lady's eyes popped out. "Charge him for sexual harassment." Temari said casually. "Also, he's a missing-nin, so be sure to take him back to Konoha with shinobi guards." And she sauntered off, leaving the ticket lady stunned. "Here, I'll help you," Shikamaru said guiltily. Together, they dragged the man to the park officials, who apologized profusely. Shikamaru didn't even get a chance to rest before he heard Temari's voice.

"SHIKAMARU!" She yelled. "Get your ass over here! The next round begins in 3 minutes!"

"Hai, hai…" he muttered as he made his way over to Temari. She was standing with two other people, who both seemed to be very athletic.

"Now, do we have everyone?" And old man had appeared in front of them. "Congratulations for entering our maze contest! This is our 34th round of the contest! There will be 100 rounds in total throughout the day. Now, your objective here is to reach the red button in the middle of the maze." Shikamaru snorted. He had surmised this already.

"You want to reach the red button as soon as possible. Our current record-holder is three minutes and twenty-three seconds! If you can beat that, then you may have a possibility of winning the massage chair!" He cleared his throat. "There are no rules to get to the center of the maze except that you are not allowed to touch other contestants or break down the maze walls. Rely on your creativity! One boy tried to tunnel to the center of the maze before…" Temari and Shikamaru smirked. This was going well for their plans. "So, we'll begin in two minutes! Our attendants over there will drive you four to different corners of the maze."

Shikamaru followed his attendant, and they drove for at least 500 meters before getting to a corner. _Three minutes and twenty-three seconds. That's breakable._ Temari, meanwhile, had no qualms about beating three minutes and twenty-three seconds.

"Ready?" The old man had a loudspeaker now. "Set, go!" Shikamaru took off. He knew the route to go from observing the outside of the maze. Enhance chakra! He thought, putting chakra to his feet which made him run three times as fast. Turn this corner, and that one…he surmised a minute had past already.

Temari, meanwhile, had taken out her fan and was shooting upwards, so she could see the whole maze. There! There was the center! She drifted toward it.

Shikamaru's head popped up as he saw the fan. What a cheater Temari was…but now, all he had to do was to follow her. He ran, keeping his eye on the fan ahead of him. The fan was very close to the ground now.

Temari leapt off her fan, and walked leisurely to the red button in the center. This was too easy—wait, why couldn't she move? Horrified, she managed to turn her head, and saw Shikamaru standing there, shadow linking him and her. "How dare you!" She hissed, trying to move forward. Shikamaru smirked. He ran a few steps to the right, and Temari awkwardly did the same. Now, he walked forward, and was level with the red button, while Temari was too far ahead. She snarled. He reached out his hand to press it—the timer read two minutes and eighteen seconds—and something thumped into him, knocking him aside.

"Umph!" he managed to cry out as he was tackled to the ground. Temari stood over him, smiling. "You're an idiot." She murmured. "You didn't even notice that your shadow couldn't reach me any longer when you were level with the button." Shikamaru grunted in pain. "Personally, I don't think you need that massage chair," Temari continued conversationally, as she continued sitting on him. "It just wipes all intelligent thought out of your mind. Instead…" Shikamaru stopped breathing. Damn it, why did she have to sit on top of him…in that position? He felt warmth pooling to his lower regions, and blushed furiously. "Hm, I think what you need instead is…" she whispered, her head bending down. "Is this…" And her lips captured his, and Shikamaru could only feel the taste of her lips and her thick hair, and how she was on top of him, and the wet grass pressing against his back— Her tongue pressed for entrance, and he gave it to her. But for a price, anyway. He used that moment to flip her over and she whined in protest as he gained dominance.

"When you two lovebirds are done making out…" an amused voice sounded from behind them. Temari pushed him off her, mortified. They both turned around, blushing furiously, to see one of the athletic men pushing the button casually. "Well, I'll be gone!" He said, winking at them, while signing his name as the winner.

Shikamaru looked forlornly at the now pressed button, and the timer that read "3 minute and 18 seconds". "Baka." Temari teased him. "If you want a chair that much, I'll get you one." Shikamaru's jaw dropped in surprise. "Really?" He asked. "Yep…" she said coyly. "But only for a price." Shikamaru grinned stupidly. He thought he rather liked this price. "Don't just stand there looking idiotic!" Temari scolded, and pushed him down again to continue where they left off. 

**_Hehe, some ShikaTema action! And no, they did not progress on to…uh, yeah. Making out is the furthest I go. _ _Review for more action!_**

** _*__ Enlarge_ **

**_**__Wind Scythe Jutsu_ _*_**

**_**__Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm_ **

**_****__Summoning Blade Dance_**


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